THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS Luke 4:1-12 Lars ... - Vital Christianity

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'He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' (Ps 91:11) Jesus answered, 'It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'" (4:9-<strong>12</strong>). Satan even resorts to using Scripture (Ps 91:11) in this third desperate attempt to lure Jesus. In effect He says: You claim to be the Messiah, the one who is to free Your people. But they are in bitter bondage to an alien and wicked power. They need someone who can turn the tables on Rome, someone who shows the patriotic spirit of the heroes of the past—Joshua, David, the valiant freedom-fighters of the Maccabees (during the 400 silent years between the Old and New Testaments). Just give me Your allegiance and the kingdoms of the world will be Yours. Do it my way and You will be on top. You will be able to make not only Rome but all the kingdoms of the earth subservient to You and Your people. Once again Jesus quickly responded with a decisive "No!" When it comes to those who resort to bloody revolution, who want a new holy war or a fresh Inquisition, to soldiers who carry the cross into battle with the attitude "God with us," to militants who would take the kingdom by violence and out-do the Zealots, they may sincerely profess to act in My name, but they do not share My spirit. 4 Forcing the issue is Satan's method, not God's. Cloak it with highly attractive garments—patriotism, nationalism, freedom, peace—but it is simply an invitation to bow down to Satan's battle methods and strategy. It is still the same. Satan attempts to get us to bring in God's Kingdom by methods so alien to Him that it turns out to be the very antithesis of all that Jesus came to be and to do. It is the hallmark of Antichrist. Today we have the choice of the same easy alternatives offered to Christ two thousand years ago. The alternatives to physical appetites, power, and popularity are ever before us. They come to us in various forms: ● Win people by ministering to their bodily and social needs alone, ● Gain cheap success by conjuring tricks and manipulations of what is claimed as compelling evidence; and ● Pursue the line of freedom and peace, but deny it by the methods you use.
5 That is exactly how Jesus saw Satan's insinuations, and why He rejected them as denying the lordship of God and the fulfillment of His will in His way. No, Jesus told Satan three times. I'd rather die than follow your suggestions. And He did. He chose against the easy, false ways and went to the Cross—a disappointment to fanatics and zealots in every age. APPLICATION While Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation, Jesus did not. What made the difference? Wad it the fact that Jesus was divine? Definitely not! Jesus did not overcome temptation by drawing upon His divine nature and power. He faced temptation as a man. This is the reason why He is an example for us when we are tempted. Jesus faced and resisted temptation first by having just spent forty days in fasting and prayer. But He also resisted temptation by His use of Scripture. Notice in each instance when Jesus was tempted that He resisted Satan by the use of the Word of God. The first temptation Jesus countered with Deuteronomy 8:3, the second He answered with Deuteronomy 6:13, and the last temptation He countered with Deuteronomy 6:16. Jesus overcame temptation the same way we can overcome temptation—by prayer and by God's Word. So we need to learn to pray as Jesus prayed and know and use the Word as Jesus did. Then, and then only, will we, like Jesus, experience victory over our temptations.
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THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS Luke 4:1-12 Lars ... - Vital Christianity

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